Instructor: Professor Frank L. H. Wolfs
Email: wolfs@pas.rochester.edu
Office: B&L 203A (585-275-4937)
Workshop Instructors:
TA: Catherine Lei (clei2@ur.rochester.edu)
TA: Stephen Luniewski (sluniews@UR.Rochester.edu)TI: Cole Jerum (cjerum@u.Rochester.edu)
TI: Quinn Kasdan-Grollo (qkasdang@u.rochester.edu)
TI: Justin Kenneally (jkenneal@u.rochester.edu)
TI: Jacob Lieberman (jkenneal@u.rochester.edu)
TI: Addison Price (aprice11@u.rochester.edu)
TI: Pengyu Qian (pqian3@u.rochester.edu)
Office Hours (starting during the week of January 26, 2026):
Course Desceiption: First semester of a three-course sequence for students planning to major in physics, other physical sciences, and engineering. Motion in one and two dimensions; Newton's laws; work and energy; conservation of energy; systems of particles; rotations; oscillations; gravity; thermodynamics. Course will make extensive use of geometry, algebra and trigonometry and simple integration and differentiation. Prior knowledge of introductory calculus (simple integration and differentiation) is required. In addition to two 75-minute lectures each week, one workshop each week, and one three-hour laboratory every other week is required. Students should register for the PHYS 081 lab.
Pre-Requisites: Successful completion of MATH 162 or MATH 172 or MATH 143 with C- or better. (MATH 162 to MATH 172 can be taken concurrently).
Credit Hours: 4 credits. This course includes 150 minutes per week of lecture time (two lectures at 75 minutes each), one workshop per week (120 minutes), five laboratory sessions during the semester (160 minutes each), and and 380 minutes per week of out-of-class student work (e.g., reading assignments, problem sets, study time, and other unsupervised work).
Course Objectives:In this course you will be introduced to mechanics and thermodynamics, visualize and explain mechanical processes, and develop problem solving skills and strategies. Our goal is to ensure you (1) understand how to apply Newton's laws to study different mechanical system, (2) understand basic thermodynamical systems (gasses, heat engines), and (3) be able to explain the properties of these mechanical systems using the tools presented in the course.
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this course, you will be able to:
Text: Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 5th Edition, by Douglas Giancoli.
Lectures: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12.30 pm - 1.45 pm, Hoyt Hall.
Workshops: Starting January 26. The workshops will focus on the solutions of the homework sets and exams, work with other students on new problems that illustrate the material discussed in lecture, and include a question and answer session about the material discussed in lecture.
Workshop days/times:
| Day | Time | Location | TA |
| Mondays | 2:00 - 4.40 pm | Todd 202 | Stephen Luniewski |
| Mondays | 3:25 - 6.05 pm | Latt 431 | Jacob Lieberman |
| Mondays | 6:15 - 8.55 pm | Mel 205 | Quinn Kasdan-Grollo |
| Tuesdays | 4:50 - 7.30 pm | Todd 202 | Catherine Lei |
| Tuesdays | 6:15 - 8.55 pm | Mel 218 | Cole Jerum |
| Wednesdays | 6:15 - 8.55 pm | Latt 431 | Catherine Lei |
| Wednesdays | 6:15 - 8.55 pm | Hylan 306 | Justin Kenneally |
| Thursdays | 2:00 - 4.40 pm | B&L 480 | Stephen Luniewski |
| Thursdays | 3:25 - 6.05 pm | Hylan 305 | Catherine Lei |
| Thursdays | 6:15 - 8.55 pm | Hylan 306 | Pengyu Qian |
| Fridays | 2:00 - 4.40 pm | B&L 480 | Stephen Luniewski |
| Fridays | 2:00 - 4.40 pm | B&L 269 | Addison Price |
Final Grade: The final grade will be the weighted average of:
Final exam:
Midterm exams:
Homework: Homework will be assigned at the end of each week on Friday, and will be due one week later on Saturday morning at 8.30 am. All homework assignments have a WebWork component which is recorded electronically. Some of the homework assignments have a written component and must be submitted by dropping the assignment in the PHY 121 homework locker across from B&L 106. The homework assignments are due at 8.30 am on the following dates:
Homework notes:
Laboratories: During the semester you will complete 5 laboratory experiments (roughly one experiment every two weeks). You must complete ALL labs and ALL lab reports in order to get a grade for this course.
Quizzes: Quizzes will be given during lecture. Each quiz will contain 3 - 4 short questions, related to the material being discussed. You will submit the ansers using the polleverywhere tool (using either a web browser or using text messages). In order to get credit for these quizzes you need to register for an account at using this link. Note: you must use your U of R email address to register. Invitations were distributed to those students who were registered for Phy 121 on 1/12/2026. To particpate in the quizzes you use the following URL: PollEv.com/frankwolfs050 or you can scan the following QR code:
 |
Academic honesty: All assignments and activities associated with this course must be performed in accordance with the University of Rochester's Academic Honesty Policy. Please review the Tips and Pittfalls webapges for excellent exampls of what to do to avoid possible violations of the Academic Honesty Policy. You are prohibited from looking at Chegg.com for any purpose while taking this course. Any suspected use of Chegg.com and similar sites on any homework assignment or exam, will be reported as a suspected violation of the academic honesty policy of the University of Rochester. The use of Artificial Intelligence to write the term paper is strictly forbidden. All papers will be checked for plagiarism and AI. Any suspected plagiarism and use of AI will be reported as a suspected violation of the academic honesty policy of the University of Rochester.
Note: all times listed on this syllabus are times in the Eastern timezone of the USA (Rochester time).
Last updated on Wednesday, January 21, 2026 18:04
